For us, applied green chemistry means that products should be designed and manufactured in a manner that is as environmentally sound as possible, focusing on the chemical processes. By avoiding hazardous substances in production and utilising renewable raw materials, the amount of hazardous substances in people’s everyday lives is reduced and we approach a sustainable society. Jegrelius’ focus is to stimulate increased demand and the range of new, non-toxic products with a high level of environmental performance. In this way, we obtain products that are safer for both people and the environment.

When we work with applied green chemistry, our founding principles are the same as those defined by John Warner and Paul Anastas in their 12 principles of green chemistry. In our work with applied green chemistry in innovation and product development, we work particularly with the principles that deal with:

• Using product design to minimise the exposure to and spread of hazardous substances in society, without compromising the products’ functionality and quality.
• Designing products in order to minimise waste and to facilitate recycling and reuse.
• Using renewable raw materials where technically possible.

We want to use thorough background studies to highlight and quantify environmental and health problems, find appropriate ways of working with the problem and, together with suitable bodies, work to find a solution in an applied manner. It is important to us that we consider a product’s entire life cycle and evaluate system solutions. It is not always the case that a problematic chemical needs to be substituted by another chemical; in some cases the problem can be solved through construction and design in order to achieve the desired functionality without a certain chemical.

For us, applied green chemistry means reducing the amount of hazardous substances in people’s everyday lives, and we want to work with this at the different levels of a product’s path from innovator to consumer. Innovators may need support in testing, verifying and introducing new products with high environmental performance. Product developers may need support and help in evaluating and selecting suitable materials and chemicals. Producers may need support with quality assurance and marketing products with a better environmental performance. We can also see that the demands of consumers, both large and small, for safe, non-toxic products is an extremely important driving force in what producers choose to develop. We want to influence this through information and advice to consumers, and by coordinating large groups of purchasers that can place joint demands on functionality and environmental performance.